Golden Spikes Award Caps Nevin’s Season : Baseball: Infielder is second consecutive county athlete to be named nation’s outstanding amateur player.

Former Cal State Fullerton and El Dorado High School infielder Phil Nevin capped a remarkable year of achievements Tuesday by winning the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s outstanding amateur baseball player.

Nevin, who hit .402 with 22 home runs and 86 runs batted in to lead Fullerton to the College World Series championship game, was honored at a luncheon in New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The award, presented by the U.S. Baseball Federation, is based on athletic ability, sportsmanship, character and overall contribution to the sport.

His Golden Spikes will be added to an impressive list of 1992 awards that includes Baseball America College player of the year, College World Series most valuable player and Big West Conference player of the year.

Nevin also played on the U.S. Olympic team that placed fourth in Barcelona and was the No. 1 pick in the June professional draft by the Houston Astros. He signed for a $700,000 bonus and played for the Astros’ Instructional League team in Florida this fall.

“Some things are starting to sink in about this year,” Nevin said. “A lot of hard work went into this season and I’m proud of the way I went about things, but nothing’s done, nothing’s finished. My ultimate goal--playing in the major leagues--hasn’t been achieved. But looking back, this has been quite a year. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

Nevin’s achievement marked the second consecutive year that an Orange County athlete had won the Golden Spikes Award and the second time a Cal State Fullerton player had won it.

Former Arizona State and Los Alamitos High outfielder Mike Kelly was the 1991 recipient, and ex-Titan Tim Wallach won in 1979. No other university has had two winners in the 15 years of the award.

Nevin won the Golden Spikes over eight other finalists: Miami pitcher Jeff Alkire, Wichita State pitcher Darren Dreifort, Stanford outfielder Jeffrey Hammonds, Miami catcher Charles Johnson, Texas pitcher/designated hitter Brooks Kieschnick, Louisiana State pitcher Lloyd Peever, Indiana shortstop Mike Smith and Longwood (Va.) College shortstop Michael Tucker.

Some have called the Golden Spikes the Heisman Trophy of college baseball.

“This has the most meaning (compared to the other honors) because of the definition of the award,” Nevin said.